Ball bearing roller bobsled type vehicle



Patented pr. 8, 1947 UNITED STATES LPATENT OFFICE BALL BEARING ROLLERsolistenl 'livre VEHICLE Michael Ferrara, Brooklyn N.- Y.r

Application November 7, 1945, Serial No. 627,250

(el. esterno@ 3 Claims.

This invention relates to toy or play vehicles of the coaster type whichmay be propelled by pull-y ing, pushing, or by a rowing action of thehands when the rider is lying on the vehicle.

One of the main objects of the invention is to provide a vehicle thatmay be used in coasting down hill and whizh when travelling over unevenplaces in the ground, will rise in the air and then land with a jouncing action to give the rider a thrill. Another object is to providea vehicle which employs ii'exible bands upon which rollers are mounted,but which may be used without the wheels or rollers when snow and ice isori the ground to permit travel of the vehicle on the band members;further objects being to use the vehicle over` any kind of surface asice or hard ground with the wheels in place and to provide ball bearingwheels that make for easy travel of theA device. Further objects are toprovide for braking means by swinging the front bands laterally or thebody or at right angles to the rear bands about their pivot point; togive bouncing effect to the vehicle by the use of the relatively toughresilient or flexible band members; to provide a free coasting vehicleon a down grade;` to

' 2 described and then particularly pointed out ih the claims and apreferred embodiment of my irivention is illustrated in the accompanyingdrawing, in which:

Figure 1 is a view in side elevation of a wheeled vehicle or ballbearinged roller bob sled, showing a detachable top in position thereon,l

Figure 2 is a top plan view of the vehicle illustrated in Figure 1 withthe body and canopy tcp removed therefrom, and Figure 3 isa View in rearelevation of the vehicle shown in Fie-ure 1 parts beingbroken away forconvenience of' illustration. v

Referring to the drawing in detail, I indicates the center and Il theouter floor boards forming the platform of the vehicle and to the latterof which are secured roller orv wheel bands I2 at the the body due tothe use of the steel bands ar.

similar to the use to which sleds are put; to also.

employ with the vehicle a removable top body and canopy member; and tomake use of a novel form of steering gear that will keep the Vehicle ona true course when used in free coasting or without concentratedattention on the part of the rider.

With these and other obj ects in view, the invention comprises certainconstructions hereinafter front of the vehicle. and similar bandsl I3 atthe rear of the vehicle The frontbands l2 as well as the rear bands I3are made from highly tempered steel substantially wider than the wheelsI4 that are attached to the lower reaches thereof by the fixed castertype bearings I5. The front and rear` bands areelliptical in shape,presenting an oblong portion I6 with rounded ends I1. The ends of thebands I2A abut to form a closed mounting, but the ends of the bands I3Vare separated and attached as at i8 to cleats I9 that join the floorboards. Il) and I l across the rear portion of the vehicle. The frontbands I2 are secured, in any suitable manner4 to a metal cross plate 20rthat forms a mounting for the steering gear 2I. The latter consists of across bar 22 fixed to the center steering pin 23 to which is alsoattached the cross platel 2U. Upon the cross bar 22 rests a spongerubber disk 24 underlying a cross cleat 25 that joins the floor boardsin unitary structure at the front of the vehicle. This rubber diskbecause of its soft or yielding character permits the cross bar 22 to beembedded therein as shown in Figure 1 to permit steering and toyiel'dably hold the steering bar 22 in whatever position it is moved toand thus provide a means for maintaining the vehicle on a true courseeven when the steering bar is not manipulated as is necessary in moststeerable vehicles. The smooth or finished side of the disk 2li isuppermost so that the fricf tional resistance to turning is least at thepoint where the disk contacts the cleat. The wheels I4 are ball bearingmounted.

The rear bands I3 as well as the front bands I2 have the wheels securedthereto in the oblong portions I6 thereof and the rear bands in thelower center portions thereof provide a support for the helical springs26 which engage said 'bands at a point 21 midway between the wheels andare suitably secured to the bands and to the under side of thefloorboards midway between the open ends of the bands I3. Thisparticular structure has several advantages. When a weight is placed onthe vehicle that is not distributed evenly, the tendency is for thebands to skew laterally and for the rollers or wheels to come togetherand the bands to become distorted so that the vehicle will not rollfreely. The spring bands are made of metal that is light and exibleenough to provide a bounce or a bobbing and sidewise motion, but such aspring is too thin to support a load without becoming distorted andlallowing the wheels to spread arcuately where the wheels are spreadapart as at the rear and where the band oval is long and has its endsnot closed` as at the front of the vehicle. The coil spring 26 in eachband resists the tendency of the band to collapse at its center, butpermits the band to yield at its ends to give a jouncing motion to thebody of the vehicle without allowing the wheels 4to spread. I

If desired the board I may be' bored as at 30 to receive bolts 3|,through the medium of which a top structure 32 or body having open sidesand ends may be attached. The body has corner posts 33 to which a cover34 or canopy may be attached. The body may be used for carryingpackages, small children or any other purpose and can be convenientlyremoved when the vehicle is to be used in the nature of a sled bychildren. This latter use is made possible because the landing shocks ofthe vehicle on the ground are taken up by the springs 2E, the forwardbands being of smaller formation and being closed as well as moreclosely looped provide suiiicient resistance against collapse undershock or load to which the vehicle is subjected in use.

It is evident that the vehicle having a low center of gravity is hard totip, will bounce and jog without collapse of the bands, and will becauseof the relatively wide nature of the bands permit the swaying motiondesired, the bands lresisting said swaying motion by their torque limitsshort of permitting the overturn of the vehicle. While I have referredto ball bearing roller bob sled as an indication of the type of `vehicleI have invented, it is further evident that -snow or ice runners can besubstituted for the wheels and the same characteristics be maintained asin the use of the device as a wheeled vehicle. V

My invention is not to be restricted to the precise details ofconstruction shown since various changes and modiiications may be madetherein without departing from the scope of the invention or sacricingthe advantages derived from its use.

What I claim is:

1. In a vehicle of the character described, the combination with thebody structure thereof, of

wheel mountings comprising a plurality of front and a plurality of rearrelatively wide flexible band members each arranged in elliptical shapeand presenting an oblong portion and rounded end portions, means forattaching the bands to and longitudinally of said body structureadjacent opposite ends of the latter, wheels spaced along 'the bottom ofeach band for ground engaging contact and a helical spring between thelower reach of each of the rear bands and the body structure forpreventing abnormal distortion of said rear band members.

2. In a vehicle of the character described, the combination with a bodystructure thereof, of wheel mountings comprising a plurality of frontand a plurality of rear flexible band members each arranged in anelliptical shape to present an oblongportion and rounded end portions,means for attaching the band to and longitudinally of the body adjacentopposite ends of the latter, wheels on said band members for groundengaging Contact, a bar extending across the top of 'said front bandmembers for pivotally turning the same in steering operation, and aresilient cushion disk intermediate the said bar and the body structurefor yieldably resisting steering movement of said bar.

3. In a vehicle of the character described, the combination with thebody structure thereof, of wheel mountings comprising a plurality offront and a plurality of rear relatively wide ilexible band members eacharranged in elliptical shape to present oblong portions and rounded endportions, means for attaching the bands to and longitudinally of thebody structure adjacent opposite ends of the latter, wheels spaced alongthe bottom of each band for ground engagement, a helical spring betweenthe lower reach of each of the rear bands and the body structure forpreventing abnormal distortion of said' rear band members, a barextending across the top of the said front band members for pivotallyturning the same in steering operation, and a resilient cushion diskintermediate the said bar and the body structure for yieldably resistingsteering movement of said bar.

MICHAEL FERRARA.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,520,381 White Dec. 23, 1924162,165 Godley Apr. 20, 1875 829,900 Shelmire Aug. 28, 1906 1,732,374Neal Oct. 22, 1929 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 52,424 Swiss July15, 1910

